


The Border Lines We Drew Between Us

by Lanyare



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: I don't think, Swearing, but nothing else bad, other characters too but p much cameos, taako honesty hour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 02:30:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13940697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanyare/pseuds/Lanyare
Summary: Five years after Story and Song, the family gathers to celebrate and remember.(Obligatory Taako and Lucretia post-canon.)





	The Border Lines We Drew Between Us

It had been five years since the Day of Story and Song. Five years of rebuilding, of healing, of learning to live in a world that was now and forever their home. Learning to live in one place, without running, actually beginning to set down roots and form relationships that weren't doomed to end in less than a year.

It hadn't been an easy time, of course, for the habits of a century or more die hard, and a decade without memory of that century takes time to recover from. The seven who had once been the crew of the Starblaster had, over that time, scattered, regrouped, and resettled, finding their places in this new world where everyone thought they knew them. Bonds such as the ones they had formed don't break easily, so even when apart they were still connected, even if actual in-person meetings were sometimes scarce.

But for an anniversary such as this one, naturally they all had to come back together for a reunion. The entire world planned to celebrate their victory over the Hunger and mourn those who had fallen in battle, and after the wild festivities going on around them, this gathering seemed almost inappropriately subdued. It was exactly as they wanted it, though: a dinner for just the original seven, plus the few others who had become part of their family.

Angus was there, of course, gangly and awkward after a growth spurt, his voice often cracking mid-sentence and making him flush with embarrassment each time. Carey and Killian sat by him, the former innocently offering Magnus a plate of his belongings that she'd pickpocketed off him earlier, and the latter giving Angus advice on exercises that would help him adjust to his changing physique. And Avi, now working for the Bureau of Benevolence, would occasionally fall silent and look at the chair deliberately left empty at the end of the table with a small, sad smile.

Lup and Taako had prepared the food, who else, and alternated between encouraging people to try particular dishes they thought had turned out well and arguing over whose food was better, even though most were wise enough to stay out of that and avoided offering their own opinions. Kravitz and Barry, especially, insisted that they were neutral parties in the matter, and were careful to eat equal portions of food prepared by each twin, while giving each other similar grins of understanding when they thought no one was watching. Davenport, tanned and still smelling of salt spray, was perhaps quieter than he had been in the past, but could often be caught watching various people at the table with a proud, almost paternal smile.

Magnus, after complaining loudly that nobody would let him bring even _one_ of his dogs along to the celebration, tried to challenge Merle to a drinking contest, but subsided at a disapproving look from Mavis. Merle found the suggestion hilarious, and, paying no mind to his stepdaughter, assured Mookie that he would have won any such contest easily, thumping his chest with his wooden fist as he bragged about his "fine dwarven constitution." Lucretia watched the whole thing with a tiny smile, one hand twitching slightly from time to time as though she wanted to be writing everything down, but she'd left her notebooks at home in an effort to remain more a part of the group for the occasion.

The food was consumed, stories swapped, and many toasts given — one, in particular, to the bard who should have been sitting with them, after which Avi excused himself from the table for a few minutes and nobody said a word when he came back with red-rimmed eyes and a flimsy excuse, though Magnus did lean over and briefly rest a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

Then came time for dessert, and the twins proudly deposited several different offerings on the table, each a particular favorite of one of the guests. As everyone served themselves, Magnus started to hand the plate of eclairs to Barry, then paused and drew it back again. "Shit, sorry, forgot. Guess you can't have those, can you?"

"It's okay," Lup replied, leaning against her husband's shoulder with a giggle that said she'd maybe had a little too much of the wine. "He shouldn't be eating dessert if he wants to still fit in his suit for the wedding."

Barry rolled his eyes and swatted lightly at her hand as she prodded his stomach while grinning at her brother, who had flushed bright red at her comment. Before anyone else could say something, though, Lucretia asked, sounding mildly puzzled, "Wedding? Is someone getting married?"

Silence fell abrupt and heavy around the table, and after a moment an even redder Taako flicked a bit of his cake in his sister's direction. " _No one_ is getting married," he insisted, with the air of someone tired of hearing the same joke, though Kravitz also seemed to be blushing as he lifted his glass to his lips. "Just because the two of you are gross and married, Lulu—"

And, of course, that prompted a food fight between the two elves, which stopped only when Davenport finally cleared his throat and observed that he would like to _enjoy_ some of the food instead of seeing it wasted. Though he might no longer technically be their captain, the century-long habit of obedience made Lup and Taako immediately stop and glance toward him, shamefaced, then look back toward each other and start laughing uproariously.

Everyone else just breathed a sigh of relief and focused on finishing their food while the somewhat tipsy twins giggled and picked bits of pastry and frosting out of each others' hair. Everyone except for Lucretia, whose initially puzzled look had faded into her usual observer's mask, leaving her watching the others at the table rather than finishing the half-eaten macaron on her plate.

Once the meal was over everyone started to filter into the sitting room, with most listening to Lup gleefully telling Carey a story about the time Magnus lost his pants while trying to break into a building during a search for the Light, ending with him trying to convince the guards he had a perfectly good reason to be lurking about on the roof half-naked. Lucretia saw Taako heading back into the kitchen and, gathering a load of empty plates to give herself a reason, followed him in.

She found him frowning over an assortment of bottles on the counter, selecting one only to put it back and eye another, and moved to set her stack of plates near the sink. "I wasn't aware that you and Kravitz were considering marriage," she observed without looking at him, though she caught his startled turn her direction out of the corner of her eye. "Are congratulations in order?"

Taako gave an inelegant snort and picked up another bottle, and she saw him studying the label with perhaps a bit more care than necessary when she turned back. "Lup has a big mouth sometimes."

It wasn't really an answer, but Lucretia nodded anyway. "Well, I'm still glad to hear that your relationship is going so well."

"Because we haven't spoken in over a year, and you wouldn't have heard otherwise?" Taako set the bottle down again and regarded her, his eyes perhaps a little overly bright but gaze still steady. "All right. Just say what you want to say and get it over with, so I can go back to getting my drink on."

"Taako, I—" She hesitated, turning words over in her head, picking and discarding them before finally settling on, "I...I miss you. That's all. I miss talking to you, and knowing what's going on with you."

"Okay. Cool. That's it, then? Great." He grabbed another bottle and started to turn away, obviously considering the conversation over.

"Are you still angry, then?" He had been, Lucretia knew that all too well. Beginning with the moment he'd faced her down with fury in his eyes and his sister's umbrella pointing directly at her, leading into a number of arguments with biting words spoken on both sides. It had settled, she'd thought, into a truce of sorts. Maybe even some form of forgiveness, though she hadn't dared ask that of anyone.

Taako halted, exhaling a gust of air that was too heavy to be properly called a sigh. " _Angry_ ? Fuck, no, I'm not still _angry_ , you think Taako has the energy to spare to cradle an active grudge this long?"

Lucretia frowned. "Then what is it?"

"You want the truth? The actual, honest-to-fuck truth?" Taako shrugged, lifting the bottle to cradle it in the crook of one arm. "I don't trust you anymore."

"You…" She blinked, not quite expecting that. "What?"

"I. Don't. Trust. You. Can't get it in much smaller words than that, I'm afraid." There was an unspoken 'are we done yet' in the set of his shoulders, the way he clearly wanted to turn away and go rejoin the others, but Lucretia couldn't just...let it go.

"Taako, I know I can't apologize enough for what I did, but I swear I was just trying to help—"

"No."

The single word, flat and emotionless, cut her off mid-sentence, and Taako's mouth went flat with tension briefly before he continued. "The first...that...when you first made us forget, I could maybe understand. Everyone was falling apart, and nobody was willing to be the first to speak up and say, maybe, maybe we made a mistake and turning this world to utter shit with the Relics was a bad idea. Lup— Lup's idea might have worked, if...well, it might have. If we could've retrieved the Relics and hidden them, then maybe…"

He hesitated, but plowed on again when he saw Lucretia open her mouth as though to speak again. "You thought you could do something to help mend us. Misguided, sure, but at least that first betrayal was made out of a desire to _help_."

"... _first_?" Lucretia echoed, her hand moving without her conscious action to rest against the edge of the counter as though for support.

"Yeah. Because you didn't just make that decision _once_. You made it again and again, every single day for over ten fucking years." Despite his earlier insistence that he wasn't angry, there was certainly something like it lending tension to his jaw as Taako spoke. "When you went to Wonderland and realized your plan wasn't going to be a simple as you thought, you could've ended it. You could've gone and found us and restored everything. But you didn't.

"You could've picked us up at any time and ended it. After Ravensroost. After Glamour Springs. But you didn't. Fuck, when Killian brought us to the moon, you could've ended it _right there_ , but instead you took Fisher's baby away from its parent, you chose to destroy another life, all so you could only tell us _part_ of the truth and get away with it. So you could lie to my face about my sister's fucking umbrella that I'd taken off her fucking corpse without knowing who she was. The first part was maybe done out of compassion. But the rest of it? Every time since that day? That was all about you. _You_ , Madam Director, and your pride."

He stared at her, waiting as though to see if she had a response, but Lucretia said nothing; he finally huffed another breath and looked away again. "We went through a lot," he said, voice softer. "We were close, once. You were like my sister, and— and then you threw it away. I would've done just about anything for you, if you'd only asked. But you never did ask.

"So yeah. I...shit, I still love you. But I can't trust you. Not again."

"I…" Her voice emerged weak, and Lucretia paused to swallow, to clear her throat. "I understand."

"Good." Taako grabbed another bottle from the counter to join the first, then turned on one heel with an overly flamboyant movement and started toward the door. "Grab something for yourself, too, if you want it. These are mine."

And with that he was gone, leaving her alone with the echo of his words in her ears and the tug of the bond they'd once shared straining against her heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Title and fic inspired by "Antebellum" by Vienna Teng.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] "The Border Lines We Drew Between Us" by Lanyare](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16813150) by [Pannon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pannon/pseuds/Pannon)




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